Manufacture of rims



Nov. 22, 1927. 1,649,922

W. H. PAULL MANUFACTURE 0F RIMS Filed March 24, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 22, 1927. 1,649,922 w. H PAULL.

MANUFACTURE oF RIMS v Filed March 24, 1927v 2 sheets-sheet, 2.

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.UNI-rau vsra'ras APATENT orrlcs.

waLL'AeE HENRY raum., 0E- EaDINeroN, BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, AssIeNon fro THE DUNLOP RUBBER COMPANY, LIMITED, or BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, A BRITISH 'CORPOBATICIW MANUEACTUEE or mars.'

l.Aflulieqsation med Iarch M, 1827, Serial No. 178,075, and in Great Britain December 11, 1925.

This .invention relates 'to improvements in the manufacture of riins which are so lformed that thesides thereof present a flat, or approximately flat, surface for Vapplication of rim brakes.y l l According to this, invention, I constiuct such a rim Afrom a flat stripof metal, rolling or otherwise formingfthe same tothe required section, bringing the respectlve p erpheral edges into contact, preferably 1n the 'form known as a buttjoint, and electrically Welding lthe same-.together and to the base of the rim. I In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readil carried into eect the same will now be escribed reference to the accompanying drawings, 1n

Fig. 1 illustrates a section of one form of Fig. 2.is a diagrammatic illustration of one 'form of machine for forming rims according to this invention;

Figs. Band 4 are detail views lllustratlng different rolling operations;

lFig. 5 illustrates the welding operatlon.

In cross-section the rim is preferably,`

formed as shown in Fig. l lat'or approximately fiat at the base l thereof, the respectiveiperipheral edges 2- and 3 contacting the said base'over a comparatively substantial len th transversely therefor.

his construction is preferred because it facilitates the welding operation, which is preferably performed by passing electric current beitween electrodes shown at 11 in Figs. 2 and 5 and hereinafter referred to more fully, which are adapted to press the said peripheral edges of the rim Into intimate contact with the basel thereof.

Rims according to this invention may be 4 vformed in any convenient manner but a machine for carrying out the preferred method is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig.L 2. The fiatmetal strip 4 from which the rim is made is fed from a roll 5' thereof between various forming rollers 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 whereb tion. rom the rollers 10 it asses between e0 the welding electrodes 11 an from thence between ironing or final sha ing rollers l2 to the power operated bate ing drum 13 it is given the required cross-sec? whereupon it is wound helically and from the electrodes 11 separating the peripheral edges .2 and 3 of the rim during the welding opera-tion. Hitherto in l*butt and seam welding it has been the practice to bring .the opposing edges of the seam into close contact comparatively loosely-the metal thereof being in av comparatively static condition. It is not-an unusual occurrence for the electrodes Vto separate slightlythe said edges during welding and to obviate this possibility I provide `means to ensure that the metal of'the said edges shall be under a certain compression-thereby forcing the edges of the seams together under pres-v sure-before the. welding operation.

As shown in Fig. '3 4the rolling operation prior to the final pre-welding formation of the rim is lcarried out by rollers 9 suitably shaped to cause the peripheral edges 2 and 3 of the rim to'be considerably overlapped as shownat 14 in Fig. 3. The final prewelding operation is carried out'by the' r0ll-' ers 10 which are suitably sha ed as shown in Fig. Llf---wherein the pre-wc ding operation `is illustrated only partly finished-to press the said ed es into abutting contact.

Thereby 1s provided a considerable pressure between the said opposing edges and thus, should the electrodes 1'1 tend to se arate the said edges during welding, t e result will be merely a diminution of the said pressure and not an actual separation of the said edges. The continuance of the operation of welding restores the. static condition of the material of the rim by fusion of the contacting surfaces. l

Alternatively instead of abutting the overlapped edges into contiguous contact by means of the rollers 10 I may provide that the said rollers have completed their func-` tion at the point illustrated in Fig. 4.- and have thereby left one ofy the eripheral edges of the rim overlapping slig tly or lying at an angle to the other 1n the base of the rim as shown at 15 in the drawings. Then the actual butting and seaming `operation is carried out by the welding electrodes 11 as illus- 

